


A Parable in Credits

by Kaggath



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22776427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggath/pseuds/Kaggath





	A Parable in Credits

He was filthy. It was the first thing anyone would notice. It was certainly the first thing Palliduus noticed. His posture was tense, as if he expected to lunge at any moment, and with the peppering of scars across his body, she expected he’d done just that. Many times. His eyes were sharp, though, jumping lithely from person to person across the crew as the Captain introduced their new….member. 

There was something familiar in the way he inspected them, but somehow….jagged. Untrained. But untrained did not mean unrefined, and as his eyes met hers, she saw an animal. A clever beast trapped in a cage, already looking for how to escape. She stared back with pupilless eyes, hands clasped before herself. 

The Captain didn’t look well. His fight had apparently been quite the struggle. She had, of course, spoken against the idea, but the Captain was the captain. Jer shifted uneasily beside her, and Palliduus noticed he was instinctively placing himself between the newcomer and the child he’d picked up on a mission of his own a few years back. Tem’madresh murmured something—uncharacteristically quiet—to her twin sister, who gave her a stern look. 

“Oh ey, jus sen’ em on in,” the on ship doctor, a soft spoken man, said as he backed away toward the medbay. He looked nervous. The look the newcomer gave him suggested he didn’t appreciate the idea. The Captain chuckled, leaned over to whisper something in the pale man’s ear. 

As the crowd dispersed, back to business, the Captain and the pale man disappeared into the observation deck. Palliduus waited a few minutes before following. As she entered, the Captain snapped his attention toward her.

“Ey hey!” Kintaqa’s bellowing laugh swelled to fill every bit of space in the room. His tattoos twisted crookedly as he smiled a wide and wild smile. Next to him the pale man glared at her, severe, quiet. “Time for Cap to talk business. Why don’t’cha go settle in yeah? No need to fuss the fucken paperwork yet,” he shooed the man away. He let his gaze jump between the two before backing away, skulking into the room adjacent. 

“You are giving him the co-captain’s quarters?” she asked Kintaqa as soon as they were alone.

“Got a problem with that?” he asked, kicking his feet up on his desk, fingers laced behind his head.

“Will I be paying him a co-captain’s share?” she asked back, unperturbed. It wasn’t a position she desired. Though, she did wish to know more about him if he was going to be on payroll. Her payroll, though she didn’t tell the Captain she felt the sentiment, knowing he would disagree. His belief that as captain all belonged to him was unsavory in her eyes, but he paid well. Or, rather, he was an efficient route to profit. 

“Yeah, yeah. Start em up a fucken account,” he said, waving her off before lighting a cigar. 

“Understood.” 

Returning to her own chambers, she got to her work. She watched the patterns, interpreted the stories the numbers told. Jondo, a tale of growth, swelling quietly, hidden except to her. Rubigin, disappearing as quickly as it appears, peaks and chasms. Nun’ghi, who would seem erratic at a glance, but whose patterns became clear with the inspection of a trained and patient eye. While the twins seemed like opposites, their spending habits were as identical as their faces: they had expensive tastes to match their professions. It suited the company nicely, although Palliduus found their presence unsavory. Jer, reaching up from the depths, always so close his fingertips would brush to the ledger line, only to be pulled back under time and again.

She watched the stories of the crew told in credits. Both author and audience, she began the new account, wondering how it would tie in to the dynamic.


End file.
